Blackheath run out winners in a thrilling 12 try season finale at The Big Field

Dorking 38 – 45 Blackheath

Saturday 22nd April

By Kevin Beal

Blackheath run out winners in a thrilling 12 try season finale at The Big Field

League champions Blackheath, paying their first ever visit to The Big Field (and as they were founded in 1858 that’s a long wait!) proved just too strong for a combatant Dorking side who twice came from behind to level the scores, briefly edging into a 3 point lead shortly after half time.

Led onto the field by retiring stalwart James Catton playing his final game, Dorking’s hopes of reversing the 29-10 defeat at Well Hall in the opening match of the season suffered a big dent as Blackheath started strongly and opened the scoring with two unanswered tries; a forwards pick and go try from Oliver Walliker and a well-engineered backs try through Markus Bircham. With Jake Hennessy converting them both, Blackheath had a comfortable 14 point lead after 17 minutes. Dorking responded with two runaway tries scored in moves starting within their half. The first through flanker Will Scholes supporting a powerful pick up and go from the base of a set piece scrum by no 8 Finn Osborne and the second through lock Jasper King, supporting a midfield break out and great moves by Mikey Macdonald, and Captain Fred Dalton. With both tries converted by Henry Anscombe the scores stood level at 14 all on the half hour mark. As the two sides committed to open flowing rugby the game opened up; Hennessy scoring the first of his brace for Blackheath and Cam Cowell out running the Blackheath defence to touch down under the posts for Dorking almost immediately in reply. With both tries converted by Hennessy and Anscombe respectively it was 21 all at half time.

Dorking took the lead early in the second half as Anscombe slotted a penalty from the 10m line, but from thereon in the Blackheath side showed why they are league champions, running in four further tries. Two for the backs through centre Hennessy, and two for the forwards through Holland and Captain Ed Taylor, with Hennessy converting two. Dorking worked hard to stay in the game with stout defence and well worked attacking moves yielding two further tries for Toby McRae, both converted by Anscombe but it wasn’t quite enough and despite some late pressure in the final 10 minutes of the game they were unable to add to their tally as the match ended, somewhat flatly as a mis-cued line out gifted the ball to the Blackheath hooker Walliker who hoofed the ball into touch for the final whistle.

DoR Armand Roux commented:

“We had a goal in the game to see whether we can push a Blackheath team that has earned promotion and pleased we did just that.

They showed their class by taking their opportunities when presented to them, and we in turn showed some great character and resilience to stay in the contest and take our chances.

I do feel that it was a game a fine margins and we did not always end up on the right side of those margins, but that is rugby.

Well done to Blackheath on their season, but an even bigger well done to the Dorking team to show up in the way they did today.

I am of course slightly disappointed about the result as I feel we could take some chances better, but stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, we showed some great progress to be able to test a league winning team in the way we did today. 

Great day, great support and one for the memory bank"